Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Dress-age

I hesitate to post this photo of wrinkly, blurry, unprinted garments... but I am too proud, and too happy not to. After more than 6 (yes, SIX) months of trial and error, design, re-design, sampling, counter-sampling, factory frustration, fabric recalls, desperate jargon-learning, re-do's, factory swaps, thread recalls, shipping errors, fabric color errors, price negotiations (and re-negotiations), mis-information, research....... (you get the idea), I seem to have a large pile of our first color of our first style (out of 3 total) dresses finished, just in time for fall craft fair season. These dresses, while simple (and yes, quite wrinkled at the moment...), represent all that I wanted in a new garment this season: eco-friendly fabrics (this one is a Hemp/Organic cotton jersey knit), and that sweet sweet Made-in-America label (I used a local pattern designer, and I'm working with a Baltimore factory to cut& sew these, along with an additional branch of that same factory in PA). After so many troubles with this project, and so much frustration with the garment industry, the fabric industry, the fashion world in general... I cannot convey in words just how proud I am sitting here exhausted in a pile of garments in my studio (praying someone will actually want them, because FYI, factory minimums are about as high as Willie Nelson).
I am working out a way to write a more cohesive account of my experience with this project, and would love to hear other people's experience dipping toes into the realm of product production outside the indie studio experience. A truly fascinating journey it's been so far, and I look forward to sharing my souvenirs!

Frantically printing this week, and crossing my fingers that our Baltimore factory will be finished sewing in time with the rest of these ASAP.